How To Make A Refreshing Lemon Slushy For Summer With Just 2 Ingredients

The heat is on, at least when it comes to the weather, and some home cooks take the lazy days of summer to experiment in the kitchen and come up with new frozen drinks and desserts to combat the heat, like a copycat Wendy's Frostie. And if you're on the lookout for a recipe for a simple summer slushy made with just two ingredients, try this: lemons and condensed milk.

We're not really counting ice as a separate ingredient here. And while you can add aromatics, like a teaspoon of vanilla to the recipe, it's not really necessary to arrive at the same result (though more on that later). If you're familiar with Brazilian lemonade, it kind of gives a similar vibe but with lemons instead of limes and a thicker consistency that requires a spoon to enjoy.

If you haven't yet tried the creamy South American style of limeade, you may have already had an iconic Florida dessert that features citrus and condensed milk: key lime pie. The acidity in citrus slightly thickens the condensed milk, giving it a custardy mouthfeel, and I've been known to mix the two in a bowl and serve it with graham crackers for a quick dessert, especially when I'm far from home. So, this flavor combination has been a favorite for quite some time in the USA. But how does it come together as a slushie? I tried this simple, two-ingredient recipe for myself to find out.

I was able to find all the ingredients required for this recipe at my local grocery store, so the good thing is that you don't need to make a special trip to make this tart, creamy slushy. Since I'm not vegan, I opted for regular sweetened condensed milk instead of the sweetened condensed coconut milk that the Instagrammer used, and I used ice from my freezer. I was one lemon short, so I supplemented it with a very juicy lime. I gave it a whir in my blender and already noticed that it seemed a little more liquid-y than what I would call a slushy. It poured more like a milkshake or a Brazilian lemonade with too much ice.

The flavor was also a touch flat. While you can get a tolerably decent slushy with just two ingredients, this really shone with a third: the warm, sensuous flavor of good-quality vanilla, which tempered the sharpness of the citrus and tied it in with the condensed milk. As the ice quickly started melting — it was a hot day, after all — it started tasting watery, was no longer pleasant to eat, and didn't even make a decent lemonade once it all melted. If your air conditioner stops working, and you desperately need a sweet, refreshing treat you can whip up in minutes, this may do the trick — if you drink it fast. If you're looking for your new favorite frozen dessert, I'd tweak this recipe just a bit.

Perhaps the biggest problem I observed with this slushy hack is that it relies too heavily on frozen water (i.e., ice) for it to have a slushy consistency. Furthermore, I realized in retrospect that room temperature condensed milk and lemon juice will melt all that frozen water pretty quickly. If you want to try this recipe as is, place your can of sweetened condensed milk and your lemons in the refrigerator for several hours until you're ready to make it.

However, all that ice will still make a watery slushie. A better idea is to peel your lemons, pour your condensed milk into an ice cube tray, and put both in the freezer until frozen solid. If you're worried that the pith in the frozen lemons will make your slushie too bitter, you can freeze the juice instead. You can add some ice-cold water — no more than a third of what the original recipe calls for ice — to give your blender a little help to process the ingredients, but you should still end up with a creamier, more flavorful slushy.

To give this slushie some more character, zest your lemons before squeezing them. To extract the maximum amount of flavor from the zest, mash it with a spoonful of sugar until you end up with a wet paste and set it aside. If that's too much for you, put the zest into a small heatproof bowl, add boiling water, and let it cool — and don't forget the vanilla extract. It makes all the difference.